New Year's Eve 2019

The photo above says:
'As the year comes to an end I urge you to take care of yourself and avoid accidents, because spare parts for old models like you and I are no longer in stock.  Forward to other old models you care
about'.

The meme above says 'Still deciding what to wear to my living room couch on New Year's Eve'.

Yes, it is New Year's Eve! Have a great one. We plan to stay home quietly, how about you?

Just tired

The photo above is a 'Thought for the Day' meme that says: A person who feels appreciated will always do more than expected. I agree with that.

I was at the bank last Friday. When I got past the lineup the young female teller asked me if I had a good Christmas. I said 'I'm tired' to which she replied 'Me Too! And here I am at work today.' Then I said 'it's not done yet', to which she replied 'I know!'. It can be a busy time of year although it can be a lonely time for some, we were just tired.

Holiday Cheer

My sister-in-law had these funny wine glass markers at her Christmas Day party. These ones are called 'drinking buddies', tiny men in bathing suits of different colours, each person gets one to hang off their wine glass. The one shown hanging off the wine glass in the photo has the name 'Josh' printed on the back of his orange swimsuit.  What  a fun way to keep track of your wine glass, lol.

On Sleep Apnea

For most of my life I have been a snorer.  My daughter L urged me to get tested as both her and my husband have sleep apnea and she has been educated about the dangers.  Many people are skeptical about this sleep disorder but when I was diagnosed with moderate to severe sleep apnea this past month, I decided to take it seriously.  I am using a loaner CPAP machine for the next few weeks then I will buy my own machine after.  Apparently sleep apnea over time can raise one's blood pressure, cause heart failure, or heart attack or stroke or even lead to dementia.  I am happy to wear a CPAP mask at night to keep my air waves open and prevent all that.  It is interesting that my mom died of dementia and heart failure, she probably snored too.

Are you aware of this common sleep disorder?

Paint Party Friday - Cool Gift

Welcome to Paint Party Friday. My 18 month old great niece received a lot of toys and gifts for Christmas. I thought these tiny Nike runners were a very cool gift and sketched it for you today in Sharpie oil paint markers on textured purple cardstock.  It is outlined with a black PITT pen.  The shoe is neon yellow, orange, white and bright blue.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Merry Christmas

It's time for Rain's Thursday Art Date! I did a holiday mallard duck greeting card (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") in permanent marker, outlined with a PITT pen for the 'Merry Christmas' theme.  I thought putting a red Santa hat on the duck made him very Christmas-like indeed.

Merry Christmas 2019

Merry Christmas! I had done this festive garden fence for Michael and Alexandra's Festive Door challenge over at Instagram @londonberrie, @alexandrasillos @itsrainingmarmalade #the25doorsofchristmas. So I decided to share it here on Christmas Day.

The piece is done on textured purple cardstock.  The garden fence is outlined and shaded in with a dark grey permanent marker.  There is an evergreen swag wreath with a white bow hanging from the fence door.  The vines encircling the fence are lit up with tiny white lights.  The effect is of a purple blue sky making everything purple blue.

Have a wonderful day!

Christmas Eve 2019

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas Eve, and sharing a few photos of some gifts we have received so far.  The first photo are some delicious Purdys assorted chocolates, the second photo is a large box of assorted Merci chocolates.  The third photo is a   card from a friend, she did a simple string of coloured Christmas lights.  The last photo is a small jar of zucchini relish from my friend S that I am looking forward to trying.

Purdys Chocolates

Merci Chocolates

hand made card by a special friend

zucchini relish from friend S

Place Settings and Comment Moderation

This hilarious photo shows a traditional place setting with cutlery and wine glasses correctly placed around the dinner plate. The phone sits to the left of it all.  The caption says 'the correct place for the phone is below and slightly to the left of the bread plate.'

Did you know that Madonna has a new boyfriend?'  He is 26, Madonna is 61.  Go Madonna!  Ha ha.

I decided to turn comment moderation on sometimes to see if that helps my spamming problem.  I had over 900 emails a few mornings ago indicating that a spammer had left comments all over my blog posts. The number kept climbing until I did a selective 'delete all' from my email inbox.  Shortly after that, the emails started up again from a different spam name.  Then a different one.  It is a horrible nuisance.

Needless to say, I have missed receiving your comments.  

Older and Wiser

The photo above says:

'As we grow older our Christmas list gets smaller and we find out that the things we really want
can't be bought... Merry Christmas!'

There is a beauty in getting older and wiser isn't there?

Jan at The Low Carb Diabetic always has lots of interesting and educational information at her blog.
Recently she featured Rosemary Christmas trees and went on to say 'Not only is rosemary used as a Christmas tree festive ornamental for the season, but it is predominantly disease and pest resistant, aromatic, a culinary treasure, and responds beautifully to pruning to maintain the shape.'

It made me want to get a rosemary tree.  I should use the herb in recipes more often.  Do you like rosemary?

Meat Free Tenders

Daughter L gave me this package of faux chicken tenders to try. They were pretty good. Although they are made with soy protein among other ingredients which they say is a questionable product.

Paint Party Friday - Festive Doors

Welcome to Paint Party Friday!

This is part of my festive door series for an Instagram challenge being run by Michael @itsrainingmarmalade and Alexandra @alexandrasillos. Together they represent @londonberrie. #the25doorsofchristmas.

Today I have a glass door with a  navy blue frame.  The white mat below it says 'Ho Ho Ho'.  The door is flanked by two smaller red pots containing small evergreens.  A green wreath is hung on the door with a red ribbon.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Holiday Stories, Carols and Lore

It's time for Rain's Thursday Art Date. Her theme this week is 'Holiday Stories, Carols and Lore'. I found the perfect story or lore on Pam's blog and decided to share it here today, along with my 'Carol' piece. It is a silhouette of two lovers in profile.  Floating above them are hearts, stars and music notes along with the letters spelling out the carol  'O Holy Night' .

Carols

Holiday Stories

If you have trouble reading the story above, here is the gist of this European folk tale 'Legend of the Christmas Spider' from Wikipedia.

'A poor but hardworking widow once lived in a small hut with her children. One summer day, a pine cone fell on the earthen floor of the hut and took root. The widow's children cared for the tree, excited at the prospect of having a Christmas tree by winter. The tree grew, but when Christmas Eve arrived, they could not afford to decorate it. The children sadly went to bed and fell asleep. Early the next morning, they woke up and saw the tree covered with cobwebs. When they opened the windows, the first rays of sunlight touched the webs and turned them into gold and silver. The widow and her children were overjoyed. From then on, they never lived in poverty again'

Healthy and Sustainable

This cartoon is seasonal and funny.  It features a gingerbread cookie man sitting on a doctor's examination table.  The doctor asks him:  'Sore knee, Huh? Have you tried icing it?'


Jan shared some good information on sardines the other day. She said 'With growing concern over the health of the seas, people are turning to sardines since they are at the bottom of the aquatic food chain, feeding solely on plankton, and therefore do not concentrate heavy metals, such as mercury, and contaminants as do some other fish.'

Think sardines on toast with tomatoes as Jan suggested here. It would be a good idea to eat them more often, I am thinking, they are healthy and sustainable.  Do you like sardines?

Festive Fairy Door

I did this festive fairy door on textured purple cardstock as part of #the25doorsofchristmas @londonberrie @alexandrasillos @itsrainingmarmalade challenge over at Instagram. It is a fairy door built into a large tree in the woods, all decorated with lights and a wreath.  The three stepping stones say Fa- La- La as you approach the door.

Downsizing

This is a funny one from Martha.  It shows Santa and Mrs Clause on a sled with 8 tiny reindeer pulling it.  Santa explained that he needed to downsize.

I heard that some parts of Europe have negative interest rates at the banks, what are people to do with their money I wonder. It would be better to keep it themselves!

Peanut butter substitute

I got a free Wow Butter sample to try, it is a peanut butter substitute product. Unfortunately I did not like it, fortunately I don't have peanut butter allergies.  I tried it with a slice of toast pictured below.

A new cheese for me

The photo above says:

‘Everytime you get upset at something, ask yourself if you were to die tomorrow, was it worth wasting your time being angry?' - Robert Tew

I thought this was good advice.

In the course of socializing at this time of year, I discovered a new cheese I liked, it is very buttery and fatty wouldn't  you know it.  It is called Manchego, turns out it is a Manchega sheep cheese from Spain.  I also learned (after eating the rind) it is one of those cheeses where you should to cut the rind off.

Paint Party Friday - Festive Door

Welcome to Paint Party Friday!

Sharing a part of my festive door series for an Instagram challenge being run by Michael @itsrainingmarmalade and Alexandra @alexandrasillos. Together they represent @londonberrie. #the25doorsofchristmas.  My glass door has a rose red coloured frame and a beige mat at the foot of it that says 'Tis the Season'.  The door itself has a  green swag wreath with a red bow hanging from it.  There is a tall green potted plant to the left of the door. 

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Cozy Chipmunk

It's time for Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Cozy' theme! I did this piece a couple of years ago for a Scribble Picnic theme and it seems perfect to re-share it again here. It is done in permanent markers on coloured cardstock, outlined with a PITT pen.  It is a chipmunk wrapped up in a cozy blanket with a fall coloured stripe pattern.

The Surgeon

This is a funny eye test meme, or maybe not so funny.  It shows all the letters very clearly in the 2009 eye test.  Then they are very blurry in the 2019 eye test, haha.

And have you heard of surgeon James Barry?  She was a woman ahead of her time who died in 1865.  She would not have been allowed to study and practice as a female surgeon in those days.  It was not until her death in 1865 that they discovered she was not a man.

Technology improvements

flowering kale

I took this photo in a parkette just a few weeks ago before the weather changed. All the purples on the flowering kales looked wonderful.

The salvation army is making improvements to their christmas kettles. You can just tap and go to make a donation. People carry less cash around these days so this may help with donations.

An Enjoyable Day Trip

Husband M and I were invited to a friend's home recently, along with another couple. They retired to their cottage which is about an hour and a half drive north of here. It had been completely rebuilt and it was gorgeous with high ceilings and beautifully designed, not much of a cottage really. We were supposed to spend the night but the weather turned nasty and we decided to make it a day trip.

The chicken dinner was delicious. Dessert was a gingerbread cake with icing and an amaretto cheesecake. We all had a bit of both. I rarely drink but decided to have some Bailey's Irish cream liqueur on the rocks.

We received these delicious cookies as a parting gift.

A lovely surprise

I had a lovely surprise when I went to the mailbox the other night, I received this beautiful card from Rain. Thanks Rain, you made my day.

The Christmas Visit

We went to visit my uncle who has Alzheimer's at his long term care home. We always make sure his devoted partner is there. He doesn't say much now, compared to last year but that is to be expected. We took a poinsettia plant to brighten his room. His partner says he is only taking semi solid foods now as he has trouble swallowing. His water is a thickened water. The solids are softened.

I found these interesting articles concerning dysphagia (trouble swallowing) and on how seniors can use the 5 senses of food.

Paint Party Friday - Festive Doors

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! I am participating in the 'Festive Doors' theme over at Instagram @londonberrie @alexandrasillos @itsrainingmarmalade #the25doorsofchristmas.  You will have a chance to win prizes for participating!

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Flavours and Aroma

It's time for Rain's Thursday Art Date, her theme this week is 'Flavours and Aroma'. It made me think of a hot cuppa. I actually take my coffee with milk and cream but some people like it black.  My piece is done on cardstock in permanent markers (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") outlined with a PITT pen.

Bake Sale

Husband M and I made it to the Church Christmas craft and bake sale as we do most years. We decided to sit in the tea room for sandwiches and coffee. The baked goods looked appealing so we got some cookies to take home. There were many student volunteers getting their hours in, it was nice to see the young people helping out. The weather was sunny and amazing, it was an enjoyable walk too.

Christmas Catalogues

We receive a lot of Christmas shopping catalogues at this time of year, in the mail or as newspaper inserts. I was browsing through this Lee Valley one and thought this rolling pin would be great for the baker that has everything.

Coffee Sample

I received this free fair trade coffee sample in the mail, called 'Ethical Bean'. I quite liked it, not overpowering or especially dark or strong. SampleSource specially selected me for this trial, yay.

Happy December

This is my December calendar page for 2019 to end out the year. Happy December!

Good Deed

I was excited to receive my new 2020 Calendar from Shutterfly customized with some of my art pieces and selected quotes.

As I walked to the mailbox one night I noticed my neighbour's garage door was open although the lights inside the garage were out.  I decided to knock on their front door to make them aware of it.  They thanked me and immediately closed it.  

Paint Party Friday - The Summer House

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! I came up with a Summer House in the mountains for you today.  At this point I have no idea where it would be but it sure makes me feel warm!

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Grays and Browns

scan

Photo

my photo

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date! Her theme is 'Grays and Browns'. Here is my piece on cardstock (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") in permanent markers outlined with a PITT pen. It is based on a photo I took of some fall leaves the other day, I just changed the colour scheme to grays and browns.  I think the scanned version is quite close to the photo colours here.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our U.S. friends at home or abroad!